Magnetic pickup for the bass section of accordion



April 2, 1963 R. H. LEWIS 3,083,605

MAGNETIC PICKUP FOR THE BASS SECTION OF ACCORDION Filed Oct. 12, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 a; INVENTOR Reynold H. Lewis ATTORNEY April 2, 1963 R. H. LEWIS 3,083,605

MAGNETIC PICKUP FOR THE BASS SECTION OF ACCORDION Filed Oct. 12, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q1 ii F i g. I I

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O av m2 N Fig.9 fi INVENTOR 1 1/5 Reynold H. Lewis Fig.8 lay/g1 6M ATTORNEY 3,083,605 Patented Apr. 2, i 1 963 3,il83,605 MAGNETIC PICKUP FUR THE BASS SECTEQN (BF AEQURDION Reynold H. Lewis, 7 522 Ceiliet, Dalias, Tex. Filed st. 12, 1959, Ser. No. 845,765 2 Claims. (ill. $4-1.04)

This invention relates to musical instruments and more particularly to a device for producing a musical tone and to musical instruments provided with such musical tone producing devices.

An object of this invention is to provide a device for producing a musical tone having a vibrating reed whose Vibrations are detected by an electric magnetic means.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a musical tone generating device having a reed which is caused to vibrate by the abrupt stoppage of movement of a support or tone arm on which it is mounted.

A further object of the invent-ion is to provide a musical tone producing device wherein the vibrating reed is fastened at one end and has its other end free to vibrate in the magnetic field of a pick-up means to produce an electric current which oscillates or varies in accordance with the movement of the free end of the reed.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a musical tone producing device wherein the vibrating reed oscillates in more than one plane to produce tones having sounds rich in overtones and having vibrator characteristics.

Another object of the invention is to provide a musical tone generating device wherein the reed is caused to vibrate "in more than one plane by an unbalancing weight secured to the end of the reed and displaced from the longitudinal axis.

Still another object is to provide atone producing device wherein the shape andlocation of the unbalancing weight of the reed may be varied to alter the vibratory movement of the reed in order to cause the produced tone to have any desired tonal qualities.

A further object is to provide a tone producing device having a reed vibration produce a musical tone which has the same tone qualities as a plucked string of a string musical instrument such as a guitar or bass violin.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a musical tone producing device having a plurality of vibrating reeds of different vibratory characteristics mounted on a single tone block'which is movable about an axis, the reeds being set into vibration to produce a chord effect, when the movement of the tone'block is stopped abruptly.

Another object of the invention is to provide a musical tone producing device wherein the plurality of the reeds are all operatively associatedvwith a single electro-magnetic pick-up means whereby the electric signal produced by the pick-up means varies in accordance with the oscillations of all of the reeds to produce a single tone whose characteristics are a composite of the characteristics of vibration of the reeds.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a musical tone generating device wherein the tone block is pivotable in one direction to a stop means to position the reed adjacent an electrical pick-up means and in an opposite direction to a damping means which contacts the reed to stop its vibration.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved means for mounting and actuating a vibra-- instrument having a plurality of reeds whiclrare set into vibration by the passage of air there past and a plurality of the tone producing devices for producing electrical signals which vary in accordance with the vibration of the reeds for producing chords for the accompaniment of the melody produced by the air driven reeds.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the reading of the following description of devices constructed in accordance with the invention, and reference to the accompanying drawings thereof, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of an accordion having the tone producing devices of the invention substituted for the usual air driven chord reeds of an accordion;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a pair of tone producing devices of the accordion illustrated in FIGURE 1, showing schematically their connection to the push buttons of the accordion;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 4 is an end view of the accordion of FIG- URE 3, portions of the accordion being broken away'to reveal the tone producing devices;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a modified form of the tone producing device;

FIGURE 6 is a side view of the tone producing device of FIGURE 5 showing alternative means for actuating the tone arm of the musical tone producing device;

FIGURE 7 is another modified form of the tone producing device adapted to be actuated by a piano key;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged top plan view of a musical tone producing device showing the manner in which a plurality of vibrating reeds may be secured to the tone arm;

'FIGURE 9 is an end view of the device illustrated in FIGURE 8 taken on line 9-9 of FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective Referring now particularly to FIGURES 1 through 4 i of the drawing, the musical instrument or accordion 20 is provided with the usual bellows 22 for supplying air to the usual air driven reeds (not shown) whose vibration is controlled by the melody keys 23 of the melody housing .24 on one side of the bellows. The push buttons 25 for actuating the two-sets of tone generating or producing devices 26 and 27 extend outwardly of the chord housing 28 on the other side of the bellows.

The chord housing has an internal flange 30 provided with a central elongated aperture 31 closed by the supporting or base plate 32 secured to the partition 30 in any suitable manner, as by screws 33.

.The set of tone producing devices 27 includes a row of tone arms or blocks 35 pivotally mounted in a longitu dinal row on the base plate inwardly of a stop bar 67 so that their outer end portions extend past the inner edges of the stop bars in order thatthe tone arms'abut the stop bars when pivoted in a.clockwise manner as seen in FIGURE 4. Each of the tone arms is provided with a pivot pin 39 having outer portions extending laterally outwardly'of each side of the tone arm to be received in the slots 4% of pivot blocks 41. The pivot blocks are mounted on the base plate by any suitable means, as by screws (not shown) and their slots are closed by keepers 43 secured to the pivot blocks by screws 45.

The tone arms have upwardly opening apertures 47 for receiving reeds and threaded bores 48 communicating with the apertures in which set screws may be threaded to secure the ends of the reeds rigidly in the apertures against displacement therefrom. Each of the tone arms is also provided with an intermediate aperture 49 in which are receivable the angularly extending end portions 50! of the reeds 52. The end portions of the. needs are. rigidly secured in the intermediate apertures by set screws 53. The free ends of the reeds extend over an electro-magnetic pick-up means '55, mounted on the flange 30' of the housing 28 by any suitable means, whereby the vibration of the free ends of the reeds generates a signal in the pick-up means which is transmitted through the conductors '6 of the cord 57 to a suitable amplifier, now shown. The reeds are made of a magnetic substance. They are tuned by the deposition of a heavy substance, such as lead, on the outer ends thereof as indicated by the numeral 59. The flat reeds 5 -2 cause the current produced by the pick-upmeans 55 to be of substantially sine wave form, each reed vibrating at a different predetermined frequeney corresponding to a note of the musical scale and causing the current transmitted through the conductors 56 of the amplifier to be of corresponding frequency.

Damper pads or blocks 62 are secured by means of supports 63 to the stop bar 37, the looped ends of the supports being secured to the stop bar by means of screws 65. The reeds abut the damper pads when the tone arms are at positions remote from the stop bar. The tone arms are biased away from the "stop bar and toward the damper pads by means of leaf springs 66, each of which has oneend bearing against the underside of its associated tone arm and its other end secured to the supporting plate 32. I

Each of the tone arms is movable in a clockwise manner about its pivot pin toward the stop bar by an L-shaped actuating lever 68 whose arm 69 extends angularly through an aperture 70in the supporting plate 32 and adjacent its associated tone arm. A roller 72 is connected to each arm 69 and abuts the side of the tone arm opposite the side engaged by the leaf spring whereby, when the arm 69 of the lever is so moved that the roller is moved toward the supporting plate 32, the roller engages the tone arm and causes it to pivot in a clockwise manner, as seen in FIGURE 4, until the tone arm engages the stop bar.

The actuating lever 68 has its end remote from the arm 69 pivotally connected in any suitable manner, as at 73-, to the chordih ousing 28. The actuating lever, intermediate its arm 69 and its pivot 73, has a substantially L-shaped extension 75'engaged by the arm 76 of a bell crank lever 77 pivotally connected in any suitable manner, as at 78,

to the housing 28. The other arm 7-9 of the bell crank lever is engageable by a pin 80 mounted on the button rod 82. The outer end of the button rod of the bell crank lever is connected to each button 25.

.-It will now be apparent that when a button 25 is pushed inwardly, the pin 80 of its rod engages the arm 79 of the associated bell crank lever to cause it to pivot in a clockwise direction about its pivot 78 whereupon its arm 76 engages the extension 75 of the actuating lever 68 to pivot it in a counter-clockwise manner about its pivot 73. Such counter-clockwise movement of the actuating lever causes the roller 72 on the arm 69 0f the actuating lever to engage the associated tone arm 35 and move it in a clockwise manner about its pivot pin 39 until the movement of the tone arm is stopped by its engagement with the stop bar 37. Such abrupt stoppage or arresting of the movement of the tone block causes the inertiaof the reed 52 mounted thereon to impart oscillatory movement to the reed toward and away from the-pic k-up meanslto induce the variations in the electric current being produced by the pick-up means. When the button 25 is released, the usual resilient means biasing it outwardly ofthe housing, now shown, causes the button to move outwardly and the biasing leaf spring 66 then pivots the tone arm in a counter-clockwise manner until I of the tone blocks 35a is arrested by the stop bar 37a,

4 such movement is stopped by the engagement of the damper pad 62 with the reed which thereupon arrests vibration of the reed.

Similar ltone arms 35a of the set of tone producing devices 27, which are identical in every respect with the tone arms 35 of the set of tone producing devices, are aligned in a row, the forward portions of the blocks 35a extending adjacent the stop bar 37a. The tone blocks 35a are each provided with a pair of reeds 82 and 83 whose natural frequencies of vibration are in a predetermined ratio to produce the desired musical elfect. For example, the round reeds 83 may produce a musical'tone an octave higher than the musical tone produced by the' flat reeds 82. As shown, the vibrating reeds 82 have their angularly extending end portions received in the. forward apertures 47 and secured therein in suitable set screws 85 in the. bores 48. The reeds 82 and 83 extend over a. second pick-up device to produce variations in the current being transmitted by the conductors 91 of the cord 57 to a suitable amplifier. The round reeds 83 tend to. vibrate, when the counter-clockwise movement in more than one plane so that the sound produced resembles the sound of a vibrating string of a string instrument,

such as a guitar.

If it is desired to accentuate the movement of the reed 83, in directions parallel to the plane of the pickup device, the Weights 92 on the free end of the round reed are so placed on the round reed as to unbalance the free end and exaggerate or accentuate the move-' ment in the directions parallel to the pick-up device 90.-

The free ends of the reeds 83 describe substantially e1:-

liptical paths of movement, the difference between, the 1.

tone to increase and decrease periodically and thus create a vibrato effect.

The musical tones created by the vibrating reeds 52, '82 and 83: resemble those created when a string of a musical instrument, such as a guitar and a bass violin, respectively. The particular qualities of the tones may be varied empirically by. adjusting the shape, mass and position of the weights 59 and 92 on the reeds. Such changes in theshape, mass and position of the weights change the manner of vibration of the reeds and vary not only the relative movements of the reeds in two mutually perpendicular planes but also vary the relative movements of different portions of the reed during vibration to create the desired overtones which are superim:

posed on the basic or fundamental frequency of vibration of eachreed.

It will now be seen that a musical instrument has been illustrated and described which. is provided with. aplurality of tone arms movable-into engagement with stop means or bars which arrest pivotal movement of the tone arms to cause the free ends of the reeds mounted on the tone arms to vibrate due to their inertia.

It will further be seen thatthe reeds vibrate adjacent pick-up devices 55 or 90 to generate variations in an electric current in accordance with the vibration of the reeds, which current may be amplified to produce an audible musical tone.

it will further be seen that the reeds may be so formed as to vibrate in more than one plane so as to impart a vibrato to the musical tone and also to producet-he desired tone qualities in the produced varied tone.

It will further be seen that a long flat reed 52 will produce a tone of a low frequency which is similar to the sounds made by the plucked strings of a bass violin and that each pair of the shorter chord reeds 82 and 83 cooperate to produce a combined tone which is similar to the chords produced by plucked strings of a guitar.

It will further be seen that the tone arms 35 and 35a are identical and are provided with a plurality of apertures 47 and 49 spaced from each other and the end of the tone arm so that reeds of different lengths may be secured to any tone arm and still have their free ends properly positioned adjacent a pick-up means.

It will further be seen that the musical instrument illustrated and described is provided in a conventional manner with a plurality of wind driven reeds which are placed into vibration by the depression of the melody keys 23 whereby a melody may be produced by the wind driven reeds, and that the actuation of the reeds of the tone producing units or devices produces musical tones similar to those produced by the strings of such musical instruments as bass violins and guitars whereby the actuation of the push buttons 25 may produce a plucked string accompaniment which accentuates the rhythm thus rendering the musical instrument 28 peculiarly well adapted to produce music for dancing, producing both a melody and a rhythm.

It will further be seen that the actuating means for the tone units or devices 26 may be the usual push or chord buttons 25 of the usual accordion.

In FIGURES 5 and 6 is illustrated a modified iform of a musical tone producing device wherein a tone arm 101 is pivoted intermediate its ends by means of a pin 102 extending through aligned apertures in the tone arm and in the arms 1412, the arms having their ends disposed in suitable bores of a supporting bar 163. The rods 102 are secured in the supporting bar by means of set screws 1114. The supporting bar is in turn mounted on any suitable supporting structure 105 of a musical instrument. 4 V

A vibrating reed 107, which may be flat or round in cross section as desired, is secured at one end to the tone arm by means of a screw 108 sothat its free end is adjacent a suitable electro-m agnetic pick-up means 110 whereby vibrations imparted to the vibrating reed will cause the pick-up means to produce a current which varies in accordance with the vibration of the reed. A suitable damper 112 is adapted to engage the free end of the vibrating reed to stop its vibrations when the tone arm is moved in a clockwise manner about its pivot pin 102 as seen in FIGURE 6. The tone arm is biased for rotation in a clockwise manner by a leaf spring 113, one of whose ends is secured to a stop bar 114 by a screw 1-15 and whose other end bears against a pin 116 extending laterally from the tone arm. The stop bar in turn is secured to the supporting structure 105 by screws or by any other suitable means.

The end of the tone arm remote from the reed may be moved in a counter-clockwise manner until it engages the stop bar 14 to initiate vibration of the reed adjacent the pick-up means 110 by any suitable means, such as an actuating lever 1:18 pivoted at one end 119 by any suitable means and provided with an angularly extending arm 1211 whose free end is providedwith a lug 121. The lug engages the tone arm and moves it in a counter-clockwise manner, until such movement is arrested by the engagement of the tone arm with the stop bar, upon coun ter-clockwise movement of the actuating lever about its pivot. A suitable pad 122 may be secured to the lug 121 to prevent the generation of noise upon the engagement of the lug with the tone arm. The actuating lever in turn may be pivoted by the push button rod 123, such as is found in the chord section of an accordion. The button rod is provided at its outer end with a button 25 and with a lateral pin 125 adapted to engage the arm 126 of a bell crank lever 127, pivoted to 128, to cause the other arm 129 of the bell cnank lever to engage a lug 130 of the actuating lever as the bell crank lever is pivoted to pivot the actuating lever about its pivot point 119. It will be apparent that upon release of the push button,

the push button will be moved outwardly by the usual resilient means of an accordion (now shown) and that the tone arm will move in a clockwise manner about its pivot to cause its vibrating reed 107 to engage the damper 112 due to the action of the biasing leaf spring 113'.

It it is desired that the tone arm 101 be installed in a musical instrument such as a piano having keys which are pivoted at their inner ends, as at 136, the tone arm is mounted beneath such key so that the lug 137 at the end of the key remote from the pivot point 136 will engage the tone arm 1111 when the key is depressed to cause the tone arm to pivot in a counter-clockwise manner until such movement is arrested by its engagement With the stop bar 114. In this case, of course, the actuating lever 118 is omitted.

In FIGURE 7 is illustrated another means by which the tone producing device may be connected to the keys 140 of a piano-like instrument. The keys 140 are secured to an end portion of the tone arm 141 which is pivoted intermediate its ends by means of a pin 142 of a bracket 143 secured to a supporting structure 144. The other end of the tone arm has a reed 145 secured thereto by any suitable means, such as a screw 1146, the free end of the reed being positioned adjacent a pick-up means 148. Counter-clockwise rotation of the tone arm about the pin 14-2 is limited by a stop 1 19 so that when the counterclockwise movement of the tone arm is arrested by its engagement with the stop, the inertia of the resilient reed will cause it to oscillate adjacent the pick-up means to cause the currents produced by-the pick-up device to vary in accordance with the movement or oscillation of the reed. The keys 140' may be biased in a clockwise direction in the usual manner.

In FIGURES 8 and 9 is illustrated another form of the tone producing unit which is similar to the tone producing device illustrated in FIGURES 5 and 6 in all respects except that a plurality of round reeds 160, 161 and 162 are mounted on one end portion of the tone arm 1111 by means of amounting block 164 secured to the tone arm by any suitable means, as by a screw 166. The reeds 161) may be press fitted or otherwise secured, as by solder or welds, in outwardly opening bores of the mounting block. The reeds 160, 161 and 162 may be of such dimensions as to produce three tones which combine to produce a chord. The reeds vibrate at the frequencies of the three notes of a chord and thus produce variations in the current of the coil 168 of the pick-up means 170 which varies in accordance with the combined vibrations or oscillations of the reeds 161, 162 and 160. It will be apparent that the longer the reed, the lower its frequency of vibration if the reeds are all of the same diameter and of the same substance. The coil 168 of the pick-up means is wound about a magnet 172 in the usual manner.

In FIGURE 10 is illustrated a single reed of circular cross-sectional configuration mounted in a block 181, secured to a tone arm 183 by means of a screw 184. The arrows 185 illustrate the elliptical or circular movement of the free end of the round reed when pivotal movement of the tone arm is abruptly arrested. The reed thus vibrates in more than one plane moving both upwardly and downwardly as well as laterally in a plane perpendicular to the vertical. Such movement of the round reed causes the tone produced thereby to have the same overtones and vibrato as the plucked string of a string musical instrument so that an instrument provided with tone producing devices having such reeds will produce sounds similar to those of a string instrument. In order to increase the vibrato of the tone produced by the reed, a weight 92 may be secured to the reed, as illustrated in FIGURE 11, in such manner as to unbalance the reed and increase its movement in one plane to increase the vibrato. By properly shaping and positioning the weight 92 at the end of each reed, the sound produced by the reed may be varied greatly, both in the vibrato characteristics and in its overtones, so as to cause its tonal qualities to approximate those of the strings of any chosen stringed instrument.

It will now be apparent that tone producing devices are usable in any suitable musicaltinstruments, such as those which have been illustrated and described, and

eachiuclude's a tone arm which is pivotally mounted for movement about a predetermined axis, movement thereof in one direction about the axis being limited by a stop, and a reed of resilient, preferably magnetic metallic substance, which has one end secured to the tone arm. and its other free end movable adjacent a pick-up means in order that the vibration of the free end of the reed induced by the abrupt stoppage of the movement of the tone arm upon engaging the stop may induce variations in a signal current which correspond to the vibration of the reed.

It will further be apparent that the reeds may be provided at the outer ends with weights which unbalance the reeds to cause them to have motions in more than one plane whereby a vibrato is imparted to the toneproduced by the musical instrument.

' It will further 'be noted that by appropriately shaping and positioning. the weights at the ends of the reeds, the reeds may produce toneshaving d'esired tonal qualities or overtones which may correspond to the sounds or tones of any given stringed'musical instrument.

It will further be seen that by providing the tone arm with a plurality of reeds of'app'ropri'ate dimensions actnation of the tone arm will' result in the generation of a current which varies in accordance with the vibration or oscillation of a plurality of reeds, each of which may have a different predetermined frequency. of vibration.

It'will further be seen that the. tone arm may be mounted for actuation directly by a key, such as a piano key, or may be connected to a suitable mechanical linkage to a piano key or tothe push button of any other suitable musical instrument, such as an accordion.

The foregoing description of the invention is explana tory' only, and changes in the details of the constructions illustrated may be made by those skilled in the art, within the scope of the appendedclaims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a musical instrument of the accordion type having a bellows for supplying air toair driven sound producing means at one side of thebellows: a housing secured to a side of the bellows remote from said one side; a baseplate disposed in said housing; a plurality of tone blocks mounted in spaced alignment on one side of said base plate for pivotal movement aboutan axis spaced from said one side and extending parallel thereto, said axis passing transversely through each of said tone blocks adjacento'ne end thereof, each of said tone blocks having a reed of magnetic substance secured thereto, each of said reeds having a free end portion extending outwardly of a second end of said tone block remote from said one end of said block; a stop block mounted on said one side of said base plate extending parallel to said axis and-:en--

gageable by said tone blocks to limit pivotal movement of said second ends of said tone blocks toward said base plate; means engageable With said base plate and said tone blocks biasing said second ends of said tone blocks away from said base plate and said stop block; an electromagnetic means mounted in said housing adjacent the free end portions of said reeds, said electromagnetic means producingan electric current which varies in accordance with the vibration of said reeds when the reeds are set in vibration when saidv tone blocks are pivoted toward said base plate and their movement toward the base plate is arrested'by said stop block, saidbase plate having an aperture extending therethrough adjacent each of said tone blocks; and an individual operator means operatively associated with each of said tone blocks for pivotally moving said tone blocks toward said stop block, each of said operator means including an actuating lever having one arm extending through an aperture of said base plateadjacent its associatedtone block and having a second arm extending angularly from said one arm, said second arm being pivotally mounted on the side of said base plate opposite the side on which said tone blocks are mounted, said one armof said actuating lever having means engageable with a side of said tone bloc-k remote from said one side of said base plate whereby when said actuating lever is pivoted said second end of said tone block is moved toward said stop block, and means extending from the exterior of said housing into said housing and engageable with said actuating lever for pivoting said actuating lever to move said tone block toward said.

stop block.

2. The musical instrument of claim 1, whereinsaid means on said one arm includes a roller rotatably mounted on said one arm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. IN A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT OF THE ACCORDION TYPE HAVING A BELLOWS FOR SUPPLYING AIR TO AIR DRIVEN SOUND PRODUCING MEANS AT ONE SIDE OF THE BELLOWS: A HOUSING SECURED TO A SIDE OF THE BELLOWS REMOTE FROM SAID ONE SIDE; A BASE PLATE DISPOSED IN SAID HOUSING; A PLURALITY OF TONE BLOCKS MOUNTED IN SPACED ALIGNMENT ON ONE SIDE OF SAID BASE PLATE FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT ABOUT AN AXIS SPACED FROM SAID ONE SIDE AND EXTENDING PARALLEL THERETO, SAID AXIS PASSING TRANSVERSELY THROUGH EACH OF SAID TONE BLOCKS ADJACENT ONE END THEREOF, EACH OF SAID TONE BLOCKS HAVING A REED OF MAGNETIC SUBSTANCE SECURED THERETO, EACH OF SAID REEDS HAVING A FREE END PORTION EXTENDING OUTWARDLY OF A SECOND END OF SAID TONE BLOCK REMOTE FROM SAID ONE END OF SAID BLOCK; A STOP BLOCK MOUNTED ON SAID ONE SIDE OF SAID BASE PLATE EXTENDING PARALLEL TO SAID AXIS AND ENGAGEABLE BY SAID TONE BLOCKS TO LIMIT PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF SAID SECOND ENDS OF SAID TONE BLOCKS TOWARD SAID BASE PLATE; MEANS ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID BASE PLATE AND SAID TONE BLOCKS BIASING SAID SECOND ENDS OF SAID TONE BLOCKS AWAY FROM SAID BASE PLATE AND SAID STOP BLOCK; AN ELECTROMAGNETIC MEANS MOUNTED IN SAID HOUSING ADJACENT THE FREE END PORTIONS OF SAID REEDS, SAID ELECTROMAGNETIC MEANS PRODUCING AN ELECTRIC CURRENT WHICH VARIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE VIBRATION OF SAID REEDS WHEN THE REEDS ARE SET IN VIBRATION WHEN SAID TONE BLOCKS ARE PIVOTED TOWARD SAID BASE PLATE AND THEIR MOVEMENT TOWARD THE BASE PLATE IS ARRESTED BY SAID STOP BLOCK, SAID BASE PLATE HAVING AN APERTURE EXTENDING THERETHROUGH ADJACENT EACH OF SAID TONE BLOCKS; AND AN INDIVIDUAL OPERATOR MEANS OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH EACH OF SAID TONE BLOCKS FOR PIVOTALLY MOVING SAID TONE BLOCKS TOWARD SAID STOP BLOCK, EACH OF SAID OPERATOR MEANS INCLUDING AN ACTUATING LEVER HAVING ONE ARM EXTENDING THROUGH AN APERTURE OF SAID BASE PLATE ADJACENT ITS ASSOCIATED TONE BLOCK AND HAVING A SECOND ARM EXTENDING ANGULARLY FROM SAID ONE ARM, SAID SECOND ARM BEING PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON THE SIDE OF SAID BASE PLATE OPPOSITE THE SIDE ON WHICH SAID TONE BLOCKS ARE MOUNTED, SAID ONE ARM OF SAID ACTUATING LEVER HAVING MEANS ENGAGEABLE WITH A SIDE OF SAID TONE BLOCK REMOTE FROM SAID ONE SIDE OF SAID BASE PLATE WHEREBY WHEN SAID ACTUATING LEVER IS PIVOTED SAID SECOND END OF SAID TONE BLOCK IS MOVED TOWARD SAID STOP BLOCK, AND MEANS EXTENDING FROM THE EXTERIOR OF SAID HOUSING INTO SAID HOUSING AND ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID ACTUATING LEVER FOR PIVOTING SAID ACTUATING LEVER TO MOVE SAID TONE BLOCK TOWARD SAID STOP BLOCK. 